


Ghost Town

by NuttersAscend



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Fluff and Humor, Gen, Give it a try, I'll add more as I go, Mostly Platonic Relationships, Mystery, mild horror if you can read between lines, weird namimori, you might like it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-01-23
Packaged: 2019-10-14 21:11:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 15,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17515955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NuttersAscend/pseuds/NuttersAscend
Summary: The family-friendly hitman stumbles into Namimori, a town which gives the vibes of that of a ghost town and sees a Tsunayoshi, a teen with a ridiculous background story. His interest being slightly piqued by the gap of impressions from the environment and characters overstaying his welcome. What exactly is going on with this town?





	1. A Figurative Zombie

Donned in a full black suit, a stoic figured assessed his surroundings with a slightly troubled frown. What lay in front of him was a rather lively town... but a town that wasn't on any of the maps lent to him. The fedora-wearing man stumbled into the town while on recon when he was walking through the Namimori forest. Being a perfectionist, he had felt that the forest could play some kind of strategic site for assassination and surveillance... but it was more of the fact that the town existed in the first place that troubled him.

The black haired man, Reborn looked troubled because not only was the town not supposed to exist... but also... quite frankly, he was lost here. It wasn't that he was directionally challenged. If you would claim that, you'd be at the other end of his gun so it's best keep his silence at any such accusations. It was because of the compass that didn't work at all here and the high magnetic disturbance, which made his GPS rather ineffective. The convoluted geographic surroundings did him no favors.

Namimori was the town he had known through a colleague's ramblings. It was a town that had become a kind of taboo in the recent years as a topic, but he had always thought that it never actually existed since the mentioned party never actually went there, being a workaholic.

He didn't have any sort of clue of where he was right now, but he had to start somewhere. So lead by the countless conversations, he moved towards the general direction based on the scenic signs. There was a middle ranged house in front of him, with the nameplate slightly scorched like the burnt somewhat walls at the exterior. It looked like the house wasn't maintained for years and made it look like it was haunted. Namimori's buildings, as he observed were all slightly resembling each other in this way. He could hear the hustle and bustle of people, but they rarely entered his line of sight. It was like he was visiting a ghost town.

Thinking that no one would be living in a house like this, he humored his impression and pressed the house's intercom button.

Surprisingly, the door opened, and a brown spiky haired teen peaked outside and met his gaze. Reborn, on the other hand, gave the honey-eyed boy with an amicable atmosphere a suspicious glare, since there was to be no one who should have actually answered. Seemingly unbothered, the boy approached him and asked.

* * *

"Hello there. You must be new into the neighborhood. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi. If you need any help from me, feel free to ask. We neighbors must help one another, after all."

It was kind of strange that he went straight to the assumption that the hitman would be moving in, but he would seize the opportunity given to him on a silver plate.

"Same here. I'm called Reborn. I'm just here on a visit. I've heard from a friend about this place and got a bit curious. Can I talk with you for a more firsthand impression?" he asked, taking advantage of the friendliness provided to him.

The teen smiled and gestured him towards his house, rather easily. Reborn wondered if this kid got tricked often given how careless he was with people.

Sitting at the end of a rather small, homely table near the living room, Tsuna brought a coffee after asking what the man would like to drink which he accepted. Before he started any topic, the brunette chirped in.

"It's rare that we get to meet new people here since it's hard to reach here in the first place. So it's a rather pleasant surprise."

"From the looks of it, the town's pretty peaceful. I'm more surprised that I've not seen any mentions of it in any of the local maps."

Smiling a bit wryly, the brunette answered "It's a town in the midst of nowhere. It would be difficult to get any guests to come to a broken down place like this."

"For a place, you've lived in, that's a rather critical opinion, isn't it? What's wrong with this place?"

It was a rather on script response to the unexpectedly negative reaction from the teen that gave off a cheerful impression. It hardly warranted the slightly patronizing look the brunette offered as a response.

"You're right. I wouldn't say the place is bad. As a matter of fact, the residents are slightly quirky. Getting bored with them living around here is hard. I'd say it's a town that attracts the weirdos, ahahaha.

It's like there's some sort of thread of fate connecting the people to here, that it's almost meaningless to convince them otherwise."

"That seems like a rather romantic connection one would establish with a person than a town with all things considered."

"I've seen a person I'd swear would lean towards that side if only it became legal. I'm wondering what's stopping him from trying to make it a reality."

"Heh. If that's true, that's one wedding I don't mind being invited to. It seems interesting."

"I'll ask him to add you to the invitees if he ever finalizes that decision. By the way, you said that a friend referred you here. I'm surprised someone even knows that this place exists."

"That's right. He's a 'friend' who has the same surname as you do. He's Sawada Iemitsu. Someone you know?"

"I sure do. That's my dad."

It was answered so candidly that Reborn paused for a minute or two before his hand moved towards his vest as he asked testily.

"Oh, is that so? That guy sure does have a son. One that he apparently doted on. I wonder how are you doing for a kid who's supposed to be burnt into crisp."

The boy blushed a bit at his subtle warning surprising him a bit.

"Ah. You've heard of that? How embarrassing. That's a part of my dark history."

"I'd say being burnt in a house fire would be a dark future, let alone a dark history. Say, who exactly are you?"

"Geez, I'm still Sawada Tsunayoshi. There's a proper reason for the misunderstanding you have, please listen to the whole story before making any hasty decisions!"

"...Go on. I'm listening."

* * *

"As a kid, I was pretty dumb. I mean I've not changed much, but there was a reason people around here called me dame-Tsuna. My mom and I lived together here before. She was the sweetest person you'd ever meet, you know?

To be fair, I was only six at that time!

At that time, she was a bit heartbroken that dad didn't visit a lot.

So I wanted to help out... was the excuse I gave, but I was being bullied at that time, and it was a bit lonely. So I wanted a companion that wouldn't shun me.

So I thought it'd be nice to get a sibling. If dad doted on mom a bit more, if he'd visit her more, after the continuous visits, eventually; I'll have a sibling or two. Maybe we could even form a whole baseball team!"

He didn't know where to comment on the ridiculous reasoning of the brunette in front of him. So his facial muscles twitched as the teen continued unperturbed.

"So I've seen in cartoons and romantic films about scented candles and creating the mood. Let me tell you; they're woefully inaccurate and frankly implausible.

Roses were expensive as compared to the candles, but I still saved up to buy them and even found the stash of fancy wine saved up for special purposes.

So for making the day special, I lined up the wine and champagne into those stacked towers of glass using all the glassware in the house while my mom was at work. And then poured the alcohol into them from the top of the pyramid, and boy did it look pretty!

Then I lit the candles around it like rings of fire and lit the candles to form a pathway from the table to the bedroom and scattered rose petals there and scattered the roses from the bouquets, stems and all at the floor and varnished the staircase handles with scented oil.

I've then rung up my dad and told him the house was on fire and he should hurry up here. To be fair, the candles took over like one-third of the house and I blew my entire savings on that!"

Was it him or did the entire setup just screamed an incident waiting to happen.

"Dad's a softie so I thought he'd get swept in the mood and things would work out in the end.

But here's where things dominoed out of control. Mom came into the house earlier than expected and was surprised at how things looked. I... uh... panicked a bit and tripped into the whole roses and realized... I forgot to remove the thorns and limped into the champagne pyramid."

Oh boy, he could practically see how it went from here.

"The alcohol spilled into the rings of fire and at that time, I remembered a show from television that alcohol was flammable... but yeah... too late...

A colossal flame channeled all the way over to the staircase as the alcohol puddle traveled and to make things worse, I remembered our house was primarily made of tatami wood that was easily burnable... ahaha...

The scented oil varnished handles didn't help either. It burnt the bedroom and broke one of the supporting beams that fell on top of me... I heard that mom screamed and ran over to the fire department but by that time the house pretty much actually burnt but she wasn't there to see that I crawled out of the debris with minor injuries thankfully. She apparently thought that I was still in that mess and ran out of the town in frustration that no one would get into the debris and look for me while at that time I had fainted in the Namimori shrine due to exhaustion.

Let me tell you this; it's harder to enter this town than to exit it and pretty much no one has ever come back. I'm guessing she had a kind of trauma and dad wanted to keep her at peace. Since he never been here, I doubt he believes everything mom has told about this place. I mean we shifted here without him ever visiting this place on mom's impression.

In the end they got closer- the house burnt into ashes and shortened their distance. But contrary to my plans, I've gotten more isolated from my actual goal. I guess that's karma for you, ahahaha."

He couldn't deny the other's reasoning. His own impression on Sawada Nana was that she was a fundamentally pleasant person who was slightly deluded in regards to her son and her living place since the way she described it was rather strange now that he thought about it. But now that he's here and heard about the incident directly from the unintentional perpetrator he leaned more towards the lady's story.

Although, it seems like it was too unlikely a situation; one that seemed to erupt from this lad's seemingly massive amount of bad luck.

"So... Getting away from topic for a bit.

Say Reborn, since you're just touring around for a bit for now. How 'bout you stay here for that time.

This house is too spacious for just one person anyway."

"...I'll take you up on that offer. I'm a bit curious about this place anyway."

Maybe he could take a vacation for once. But just to be on the safe side, it would be best not to let him meet with Bianchi.

'I don't know what would be worse. This guy getting poisoned to death from her jealousy or his attempts to probably hook us up for gaining more companions.'


	2. Jack O' Lantern

Eager to escape the current conversation and from Reborn's suspicious eyes, Tsuna eagerly proposed.

"Enough about me! I bet you must be curious about this town. Have you explored it yet? If not I can play the guide."

"Yeah, sure. Can you guide me right now? It might be good to move my body around."

"! Really?! No take backs, ok? Man, you're like the only one that accepted the offer."

The response of the grinning teen got him on edge immediately.

"Wait. Why is that? Is it something with your sense of direction-"

His rebuttal was utterly ignored as the boy ran outside screaming about finding something suitable to wear which in turn made the hitman irritated by the dismissal enough to aim Leon at his head impulsively.

Thankfully, his cover hadn't got wholly blown with the noise of glass breaking from upstairs.

"Geez! I have an open front door that you can use instead of breaking in every time!"

The nonchalant response got him curious and made him put the gun back into his vest as he followed the source of noise to... a... weirdo in a t-shirt(with cow patterned jacket?) and jeans wearing a pumpkin over his head.

"Geez to you too, Tsuna-nii! I've told you over and over again that it's always cooler to smash into the window to leave an unforgettable impression."

Well the dude isn't wrong in that regard.

"What about poor me who has to fix the mess?!"

The hitman seamlessly integrated into the conversation with a quip.

"In that case, you don't have to keep the window panes."

"I would do that if this guy wouldn't reinstall the panes once I've done that! It's a never-ending cycle."

"Like I've said before, window breaking entrances is a man's romance."

"What kind?!"

Ignoring the exasperated brunette, the Lantern dude introduced himself.

* * *

"Heya Reborn! I'm Bovino Lambo, Tsuna-nii's best little bro."

"No, you're my only metaphorical little brother!"

"What's a Bovino doing here?"

It wasn't strange that a member of the Bovino famiglia would recognize him, being the world's greatest hitman. But the other should have been in Italy, not Japan of all places.

"I live here. I don't know what's going with the famiglia right now. I'm pretty much a civvie."

What was strange was that Tsuna didn't seem surprised at all by the implications of the conversation.

"So anyway, you want a guide around town I'm guessing seeing Tsuna shuffle for clothes. So let me take over that role."

"No Lambo. He agreed to let me guide -"

"Sure. That's fine with me."

Seeing a threat lying under the teen's proposal, Reborn ignored the accusing glare sent by Tsuna for a chance to get information. It seemed like Tsuna was too complacent with the town to help him figure out the situation. The other on the other hand seemed to have an agenda with the brunette which made him an even better target.

The agreement seemed to be the right choice as Lambo gave him a grateful smile and led him out of the house.

Under the silent stares from the hitman, the teen gave him an explanation for his actions "The thing is, Tsuna-nii's body is pretty weak. Don't let him know I told you. He believes that we worry too much."

"Is that so? He doesn't look sick."

"I'm not lying. I've seen him struggle to breathe when we go too far away from the house.

Anyway, as thanks for lending a hand there. I'll answer all your questions. I'm relatively new here, so I can understand why people can think this town is pretty strange.

You've probably seen the interior of Tsuna-nii's house right? It's pretty burnt, but he won't replace the furniture. It's probably nostalgia so, I won't tell him anything about it."

"I'm wondering what's the deal with the town not being on any maps. I don't even know where is this place exactly."

"That's probably the mayor's fault. He's invested in keeping the place as hidden as possible."

"Why not? Visitors and tourism can help the situation of the town. I mean, people might like the antique feeling it gives."

"Hey! We like how it looks like. More like we try our best in keeping the image of the town like this. It takes a lot of money to keep this old ravaged look you know."

"But it looks like a ghost town."

"...It's because this town's theme is Halloween."

"Hence the Jack O' Lantern look you've got."

"...To put it simply, yeah."

It seemed like a delicate situation, so he dropped it for now and said,

"Since I'll be staying for a while for a vacation, is there any procedures for registration."

The patronizing look offered at that statement honestly pissed him off. The fact that a pumpkin could make that kind of impression made him pull the gun to the other's face.

"Don't get so mad! It's just that it was kind of funny someone would actually try to introduce himself as an outsider to the mayor. It's like picking a fight with that guy. You'd think that the dude was xenophobic from what I've told you."

"That's a bit of overkill to judge someone that fast."

"Ah that's right. You're new here. I forgot 'bout that.

That's right... People usually think that, right..."

It was that feeling of exclusion again. It was just like how yesterday the people moved out of his sight the moment he was in the general area.

* * *

"Do the people here hate outsiders that much?"

"That's not true. You've met Tsuna-nii, haven't you?"

"That's one person, and he seems like out of the norm right now."

"Tsuna-nii's pretty much the same as us. It seems like the people here gave a bad impression. They won't act like that once you move here."

"I'm just staying temporarily."

"Staying here temporarily or moving here. What's the difference?"

The genuine confusion in the teen's eyes startled him a bit. It seemed like it could be a cultural thing. Like maybe, once you're here, your soul's a part of ours or something of sorts.

"Anyway, don't let the mayor know. You know 'bout this town a bit from someone else, right?"

"I've heard about the town from Tsuna's dad. But how do you know about that?"

"The people here have that same circumstance at the start. Only those who're invited can reach here. Anyway, use that as an excuse.

Say that you're his illegitimate son or something like that, 'cos that'll fly based on the mayor's impression of that guy. He's the visa for your stay."

"Even if I die, I won't give that excuse."

"Yeesh, even you have the same impression on him like us. Then, just say you're his acquaintance. You might catch his suspicion with that though."

"It's not like this mayor knows each and everyone on this town-"

"That guys knows literally everyone and anything acquainted with this town."

It was said so confidently like it was just another fact in this world that Reborn left any reasonable arguments aside. More than that, he could finally see some people moving around carefree.

"If this town's theme is Halloween, you're the only one I've seen so far wearing a pumpkin mask. You sure it isn't just your hobby?"

"Puh-lease. If it weren't for the town's implicit rules, who'd wear something so stuffy everywhere. Those other guys took the role of ghosts. They have no imagination. Look, their clothes are musty white and tattered a bit."

"Hmm, that seems so. But if playing something half-assed like a ghost is ok, why don't you wear it too."

"It's cos Tsuna-nii wants me to stop breaking mirrors."

Reborn looked at the teen to urge him to explain it further.

"It's just that when I see myself in the mirror, my face feels all hot and my heart starts beating wildly, so I end up punching the mirror with all I got.

So Tsuna-nii has to bandage the wounds and replace the mirror.

It's either this or removing every reflective surface."

"Therapy might help, especially if you're a candidate for the successor of the Bovino famiglia. It's pathetic for a Mafia boss to be scared of his own reflection."

"...I'm already out of that rat race."

"You're giving up because of one assassination attempt? You wimp."

There were rumors that the Bovino famiglia tried to assassinate one of its candidates. But if he's here and breathing, there was no way the famiglia didn't know about it. The fact that the other was even alive meant that he was still considered a candidate or else there'd be no way they'd have met today.

* * *

"I'm not a wimp! I'm a fearless and chill kid! The coolest you'd ever meet in your life! A cucumber ain't got nothing on me.

Tsuna-nii said so! He even gives me grape candy every time I prove that! Take that!"

"If the theme's Halloween, there's no reason you wouldn't get candy for mischief. You got the reason mixed backward."

"I told him the same thing before and tried all sorts of things. But he refused to give me candy for that even though everyone else does so if I succeed.

Thanks to me, it'll be hard to trick someone else, Reborn. I'd like to see you try beating my high score. Ahahaha!"

"It's a thousand years to early to challenge me, you cow brat.

By the way, if you're Jack O' Lantern, then what's Tsuna?"

"He's the witch."

"He sure doesn't look like one."

"You should see when he goes out. He always wears that baggy cloak he wore to sneak around and get his parents' presents like a ritual. At first, he said it was because it was his last memory with his parents; but a while back it's been changed to that of meeting us!"

"Hmm... is that so?"

"We've been walking a while eh? How 'bout we go have a bite to eat instead, your treat."

"You're the guide, how about some hospitality?"

"Adults gotta treat the younger kids. Isn't that basic manners? Anyway, there's this place with amazing sushi and demonstration for making em. It's as if they're samurai. I'll lead you there, and we can have a bite. Then, I'll ditch you there 'cos I told my friend I'll play with them later."

"Then you want me to explore the place on my own?"

"I have a feeling you'll invite Tsuna-nii just to spite me, so I'll tell Takeshi-nii to take over the escort role. Amn't I neat? I'm not even asking you tips for being as great a guide as I am.

Getting so many men to take care of you, aren't you popular, princess-san-"

Lambo jumped out of the bullet shot, looking sufficiently scared.

"I must have nodded through your explanation. What were you saying just now?"

"Eep! I was just saying the great Reborn-sama won't get a satisfactory tour with a person like me. So I've thought Takeshi-nii can help out here!"

"That's what I thought. Good."

When the jittery teen opened the door, the first thing he had the utmost displeasure seeing was a uselessly sparkling man who seemed like he'd better fit the host club than a sushi restaurant.

Not to mention he seemed like the type who could walk through a bloodbath smiling like an angel given that he was in the midst of chopping off a live fish's head when greeting him, with the fish's accusing eyes facing his direction.

Lambo whispered to him.

"Takeshi-nii's a bit jealous that you'd be living with Tsuna-nii so he did a bit of a nasty greeting to you. But don't take it too bad.

He'll take over the request properly."

That was on purpose?!


	3. Killer Clown

Reborn was quite hated for the jobs he undertook. But this kind of blatant harassment was quite impressive since his demeanor never let him be on the side of being bullied. So it was a bit refreshing.

Facing him was the same dead fish face or head decapitated with sushi made from it placed in front of him.

"I heard Lambo was under your care. Thanks for that! The sushi's on the house."

It was bullying, isn't it? Or was it a misunderstanding? If you don't consider Lambo's words, this was just a good-natured person.

"That kid's a bit worrying and seems to be missing a bit of common sense and hasn't got it all under control. So it makes us worry a bit. So you've been really helpful.

Really, if you didn't take up his offer instead of Tsuna and babysitted him, I'd not have been hunting fishes but something else..." the teen smiled refreshingly as he brought his attention to the knife as it very meaningfully cut the head of another flopping fish and stopped its movement in one smooth movement as the other amicably met his eyes.

"It didn't cut properly this time huh" he referred the way bit of the body of the fish got in the way.

"It's lucky that it turned out well last time with good decisions made huh?"

Reborn had a distinct feeling that the teen was referring something else with that statement.

"Wait a bit Reborn-san. I'll change so that we can go out for the continued tour."

"Should I change too to fit the theme."

"I don't think there's a need because Reborn-san looks the part of a  _scary hitman-san_  right? Don't take it so seriously. It's just a joke."

"You must really be the life of the party being quite the joker" he spat out, getting a bit irritated with the constant threats.

"Huh? How did you know that I played the clown role here? Did Lambo tell you?" Yamamoto appeared genuinely confused wearing a pure white foundation with a perfect clown marks without the iconic red nose. But with the garish costume with frills in flashy red, it was obvious what he was.

He then took a baseball bat and placed it over his shoulder.

* * *

Reborn amusedly guessed, "Killer clown?"

"Not you too, Reborn-san! I was just going for a clown. I wonder why everyone keeps calling me that~ Everyone has such a morbid imagination hahaha"

A clown with a baseball bat is never going to give a good impression. Noticing his skeptic look

"Oh is it because of the bat? Don't worry it's nothing so barbaric. This actually can change between a baseball bat and a sword. In fact, it even removes any blood stains on the blade."

Isn't that much worse?!

"I just like swinging bats. But I've been told that rather than my swings, the balls hit from it are more dangerous as a weapon. Those guys have such a strange way of praising someone."

I don't know what's more dangerous this way. Reborn felt like there were a lot of things he wanted to comment on, seeing that his clarifications led to more questions. It did clear the previous issues, but the fact that those answers made more questions pop up, made him doubt letting this guy explain things would do any good.

"...Let's just get on with it."

But this guy is hitman material. Reborn considered training him

"So Namimori has a middle school and a separate school nearby near the abandoned haunted park."

"Why do you even keep a haunted park?"

"In the spirit of the town, everyone voted to keep it around until it stops being haunted."

Isn't it the other way around?

"So this other school is Kokuyo middle school which has an ongoing rivalry with Namimori middle school. Tsuna, me and another mutual friend are seniors in the Namimori high school with Lambo as a senior of the middle school. So he gets in a lot of one-sided fights with the Kokuyo high school cos of a fight that never got resolved when the chairman was in middle school."

"Why're you telling me this?"

"Cos Lambo seems pretty interested in you. Plus the ongoing fight from the then chairman of Namimori and the then president of Kokuyo has stretched on to high school and pretty much forcibly involved the residents of Namimori as a whole. So if you get gossip on property damage here, it's pretty much from their fight."

"Why on earth are they dragging this on?"

"It's partly because of the way Tsuna tried to pacify them. Also, those two don't see eye to eye on a lot of things, so it's easy to get spurred into a conflict."

"Then if they just didn't meet-"

"That's kind of not possible since in the end they're a part of our circle, and they're part of the main administrators here. The Kokuyo president is pretty charismatic and gets a lot of information from the victims of the chairman's rampage which he uses to bait and tease him

I personally think that they both got really bad hobbies."

If  _even_   _this guy_ says so, it's easy to agree with the sentiment even if they never met or know each other

"Why give this chairman that much power?"

"Hmm? Hasn't Lambo told you? The chairman is our mayor."

What?!

"For a teenager to manage an entire town..."

"I know what you feel. But that guy has no opponents, and probably no one would ever take on that role."

What a corrupt system, seriously

"But there's no problem. The chairman is very particular with maintaining the order and discipline of this town and has his own disciplinary committee to enforce it with an iron fist. Because of that, the place is probably more peaceful than any other place you'll ever see."

The irony...

* * *

Yamamoto mimicked the wry smile the hitman gave in response to the explanation

"By the way, Lambo's on the chairman's side since he got pretty aggravated from being one of the Kokuyo president's favorite pets"

"Seems like both have them have pretty bad hobbies. By the way, you mentioned that part of the reason for this rivalry was because of Tsuna."

"Ah... That was because of his offhand comment. To be fair, it was just a passing comment. But it kinda rubbed them both the wrong way

He told them on one of their usual fights that they fought like an old married couple."

"Well wow..."

"Yeah, and by the way, Tsuna's their mutual friend who they both respect and whose opinion they both take pretty seriously..."

"Oh man... that's not bound to end well."

"Our mutual friend made things pretty worse. That guy has a perchance for following Tsuna around like a lost puppy. I mean he takes the werewolf role and is pretty much a large dog, but still...

Yeah so anyway, he immediately took Tsuna's side and while laughing commented that

The couples in town would get jealous that even without getting married they got along more than most of the parents living here."

"Fuel to the fire, huh."

"He even said that they successfully inadvertently married the Kokuyo and Namimori educational institutions being the representative head

And let me tell you, those two took their schools and territories very seriously and ended up wanting to completely erase the other from the picture so that such a misunderstanding can never occur again."

"Can't this guy stop picking fights?"

"I tried stopping the fight at that time by telling them it would be inevitable that they would be looked upon like that and they should get used to it since it's not like they can stop clashing with each other since they can't beat the other

I mean, looking from past experiences..."

Reborn looked at the person who hit the final nail into the coffin amusedly

"It's good that you're not aiming for a negotiator and going for something else."

"Really? I thought unlike the people I know, I don't really pick fights with others."

But instead opt on snide comments that shove people from the edge, huh?

* * *

"For a person claiming to be a pacifist, it's strange that you'd choose to carry a sword around. If its as safe as you claim, there's no reason to bring it around is there?"

Yamamoto turned around and looked at him with a pearly white smile as his eyes got slightly shaded by his hair.

"Ahaha, that's not true Reborn-san. You see I'm also a part of the security even if I'm not a part of the official dc committee.

It helps to be trained enough to rival a professional assassin especially when a random hitman decides to nonchalantly live in the same place as my best friend."

Reborn realized his hand automatically reached for his gun at the killing intent aimed at him.

"You don't have to get so serious, Reborn-san. It's just a teen's paranoia from a stressful hormonal period of growth hahaha."

It was as if they never had that interaction and the teen continued saying,

"How about we continue the tour. Ah right, since my shift would come by soon, I'll have to go for a bit. I'll ask our mutual friend to take over later. For now, let's go meet the other friend of Tsuna's."

"Why are you guys so insistent on making me meet that guy's friends?"

"It's cos he invited you to live with him. And we're worrywarts. If you want to skip meeting them, it's fine but, I wouldn't recommend it. Since you'll end up meeting them in... slightly more unpleasant situations."

"...Who are we meeting?"

"The Kokuyo president, Rokudo Mukuro. Ah, but if we're meeting him, we'll also end up meeting his assistant, Chrome Dokuro.

It's like they're stuck to the hips, hahaha."

They were near the abandoned amusement park so he guessed he'd be planning to make them meet.

"What role do these guys have?"

"You've made the right decision asking me that. Those guys are more influenced by Tsuna's ideas and don't acknowledge the roles they take.

Mukuro-san takes the role of Grim Reaper while Chrome-chan plays the role of a cursed maid."

"If they don't acknowledge their roles, why do they even bother?"

"Actually, their roles is more because of circumstances regarding their relationship. Pretty much everyone in this town has taken these roles because of circumstances" the other said smiling bitterly.

"Then do you have circumstances for cosplaying like a clown?"

"...I just wear this because it's lonely for only Lambo to wear that ridiculous costume. I mean there's no one else wearing something that stands out as much as a Jack O' Lantern costume."

* * *

"Is that so?"

"...Yeah. I'm a nice person, so I'll just tell one thing when talking with those two. Don't get too close with them. I mean it literally. Particularly Mukuro-san.

Chrome-chan's... a bit delicate, and it'll only spell problems in the future. Take it as advice for your safety."

"Ok, so we're heading to their place, right? Is it far from here?"

"No. It's right here."

'Here' was a building on the verge of collapsing near the abandoned park.

"...Let me guess, this was the most in-demand building?"

"Wow! How did you guess it? You're absolutely right!"

The refreshing teen was met with a blank stare from the hitman.

"Then I'll be leaving then. Have fun!"

"Wait, I can't meet them without introductions. They wouldn't know who I am."

"Don't worry, it's all fine. They will know about you. I mean he would have told them all about you, being Tsuna's room-mate."

"Information travels fast in this town, huh?"

"Well, it's a small place after all. Well, see ya later."

Saying so, Reborn was left alone in front of a decrepit building that seemed to be popular only in a strange town like this.

Well, he was already here, so he might as well get on with it. It was just that it felt like a presence was observing his each an every move like he was a particularly impressive specimen. When he looked above he spotted two people very blatantly observe him.

What was more strange was that what he thought would aim that kind of gaze at him was different from what he expected.

Rokudo Mukuro gave him a look of cautious curiousness. He never seemed to actually touch anything, his hands hovering over the windowsill while he kept a distance from the one person described to him as the closest acquaintance the president had.

It seemed like the situation was as complicated as he imagined.


	4. The Grim Reaper and his maid

When Reborn thought the town was strange, he definitely hadn't seen anything yet. Because the slightly curious look the two had laid out at him wasn't the extent of the start of a hostile meeting and was actually far from it.

When he took a step towards the door near the decrepit building, a red carpet was rolled at him as banners and confetti popped. A poor fanfare was attempted by some ratty teens who looked a bit flustered at what seemed like an elaborate last minute plan as they stumbled around with an instrument they seemed to barely even play leading to an uncoordinated mess as the main character was descending into the scene currently hoisted by an expressionless maid as the young adult glared at the players at their supposed incompetence

"Mukuro-sama, we did not know we would be playing the bugle and trumpet. Wasn't the plan supposed to be a smoke bomb entrance?" the teen with glasses softly spoke.

"It can't be helped, he showed up earlier than expected." the heterochromatic eyed teen replied sending the other player into a seething rage towards the hitman.

"It's all your fault, pyon! Even though we had prepared so much for a grand entrance; you and that baseball nut just had to ruin it for Mukuro-sama! You better apologize immediately!"

"Ha?! Like I'd do so, you guys must be apologizing to me for showing a half-assed version of something you planned!"

Reborn really didn't take in the entire situation yet, but the sudden accusation made him counter it by instinct.

"It's not like we planned it especially for you, b-baka!" the golden-haired teen screamed, his ears blushing a bit.

In what universe did he do something to garner such a tsundere response in such a short time and why was it with this predicament?!

"Calm down, Ken. We did get our sources that this man is a bit of a queen. It makes sense that he would be this picky about the way he's received." the teen blew bubblegum as he nonchalantly commented.

Reborn shot the teen a glare at being referred to that way, aiming to shoot that informant if he'd ever see him.

"Kufufu, we decided to use the smokescreen for a later occasion, one more worthy for its debut. We'll disguise it as landmines so when they step on it, they'll add on to our appearance."

What kind of warfare is this? A catwalk gone wrong?!

* * *

"Chrome. Guide our guest inside. We can't have our discussions outside forever, after all."

Reborn looked at the quiet attendant who slipped past his guard to slightly surprising him when she tried to fulfill the latter's' request. Well it was easy to get distracted when facing such a flamboyant group, but it really was no excuse.

The others seemingly vanished and were probably waiting at the meeting space, but the level of coordination of these acts was akin to those of illusionists. Chrome calmly opened the door to the lavish interiors of that did not belong to that of a broken down house. It was like a Faberge egg!

Sensing his confusion, Chrome answered,

"Mukuro-sama, Chikusa-san and Ken-san chose this house since it was the most desired house in Namimori, but were disappointed to see that  _this_ was the house that was most popular."

He was guessing that Chikusa was the bespectacled teen.

"Then why not just return it and select another one?"

"Mukuro-sama said that he would not do so."

"Why?" he couldn't stop the exasperation leaking into his voice.

"Because it was the most in-chic place here, apparently. Plus 'The looks of jealousy from the people is worth every single cent.' if I paraphrased Ken-san's interpretation of Mukuro-sama's explanation.

Besides whatever we want, we can just remodel the insides to suit our needs."

"It seems like if the house popular for its haunted, dying impression is changed to that of a mansion, it seems like it'd lose its value."

"We don't really get many visitors from the rumors here.

In the beginning, it was just a few things here and there, but by the time we realized it we went a bit too far, hehe." Chrome cutely laughed in embarrassment, but Reborn looked at the vast arrays of chandeliers, gold roses, designed carpets and curtains, heads of hunted animals?!

There was even a random bronze statue of a bear biting a salmon! You think you went a bit too far?!

"Those look like hunted animals, but they are trigger mechanisms for traps or secret switches to other rooms."

"Why?!"

"Mukuro-sama had got a bit hooked on some mystery games Tsuna-san brought over some time ago, so it was inspired on that. Plus, he thought it would be hilarious if some unsuspecting fool got caught in them."

"Where do you even get the money to install these?"

"Hibari, the mayor also asked this on inspection and Mukuro-sama had a new installment just to answer the question." she said pressing over one of the hung masks, which lead to a small room with only one thing inside it, a golden, hung, beheaded head of a teen who he did not want to guess... but most probably he was 100 percent correct in his assumption.

"...He showed the mayor of Namimori, a gold trophy head of him?..."

"Hibari was honestly rude. Even though someone spent the time just for providing an answer to  _their_  question, he had to fling a tonfa at Mukuro-sama. The one with chains, even. And I heard he hated using those." Chrome had the gall to be appalled.

"...I can understand why the mayor has a grudge to your master..."

"Oh my, you sure are Tsuna-san's guest. You have the same level of such an understanding sentiment even for such rambunctious people. But, I must warn you to be a bit cautious.

The world isn't a place to nurture such naiveness."

He, the world's greatest hitman got advised by an apparently cursed maid who got acquainted with him for something close to an hour.

"It's not likely that the mayor would warrant that extent of mistrust."

"That's not true. That guy is black-hearted." Chrome said, looking at him darkly.

It seemed like it would be biased to properly listen what a group thought about their enemy, so Reborn didn't take the implied warning to heart. Right now, he was neutral after all.

"He's one of the main culprits for Namimori's ridiculous belief. Though it's not like we oppose entirely against what he stands for...

He tries to normalize the various circumstances of the people in our circle. But Mukuro-sama and I are with Tsuna's stand on the state of Namimori, even if the rest say otherwise."

"What do you mean by Namimori's belief?"

"...It might be better for us to tell you directly than let you be influenced by Namimori's inhabitants.

You see, the people who live here will tell you that they are dead and the town is deserted."

"But that's not possible!"

"That's what we say too, but the arguments the other side have said is pretty strong.

They say that once they've arrived here, they can't get a means of communication with the rest of the world. They don't know where this place is, and they don't even know that a site like this exists. Everyone else converted says they're dead and it's psychologically difficult to oppose the mass.

But for some reason, without any communication, they're able to satisfy all their needs except for that of external interactions. Even the wounds they sustain get treated overnight.

Plus, there's the fact that it's hard to keep track of the people who actually live here. It's like some people who go missing may stay missing or just randomly integrate back to society like it's nobody's business.

That's just to state a few. But it's hard to explain away these when it's such a detailed plan or more likely, an aimed propaganda."

"That's..."

Before Reborn had a chance to seriously contemplate the implications, they reached something that looked like a throne room.

* * *

Sitting on the throne was Rokudo Mukuro who sat on a golden throne as his eyes met his.

"I see that Chrome has been giving you a good guide until here. Great work.

You may return."

The attendant curtsied and walked to the side of the young adult who merely looked on to the hitman, prompting him to speak. Looking at that, Reborn felt surprised since he thought the guy was just an ore-sama with a king complex. But that utter willingness to hear someone out seemed to point at something different.

"It's a rather fancy place you got. I was partially expecting to see a rose garden any time soon." he sarcastically quipped.

"The rose garden's in the underground basement with a thorn garden at the overground yard."

No, isn't it supposed to be the opposite?!

"I'm aiming to create the most aesthetically pleasing abode both to Namimori's tastes and to my own."

"Why do you even try to cater to the town's tastes?"

"I'd rather die than  _them_ calling me tasteless." he spat out disdainfully.

"Anyway, you must be tired being walked all around town and then the mansion. How 'bout I get you a seat?"

That's... awfully considerate of him. But when he saw the incoming monstrosity, the very armchair used by all mainstream psychologists, the chaise longue. He was expected to sit on that?!

"I'll refrain. Thank you."

"Why does everyone say that? I've chosen it hearing about it providing a soothing experience to let all your worries go out the window."

Yes, through the psychologists' ears. He didn't want to be the one on the patient's side when there was one who fit the part much better. Plus, he was the one with the qualifications of a therapist.

"I'm used to this, don't mind it.

I'm wondering, who actually maintains the place?"

"Hmm? Chrome, Ken and Chikusa."

"...The whole place?"

"Yes?"

"It seems like it's too much for three people, don't you think?"

"That's true, in the end only Chrome works in the house when the others go hunting for information and getting deals with our patrons."

His eyebrows twitched at how the other made the scenario more unmanageable.

"Don't you think you should help her out a bit? Or at least hire some people to do so?"

"Why on earth would I do that?" he sounded so genuinely confused that it left the hitman slightly confused too.

"Then how do you maintain this place every day?"

"Chrome cleans up very well, I assure you. She's our best sweeper."

"I'm good at cleaning up" she stated bluntly.

"I mean, maids are qualified for expertise cleaning, but still... this seems to be excessive..."

"We don't have maids. I've never mentioned about hiring people."

"Isn't that her role? The cursed maid and you being the grim reaper?"

Mukuro smiled maliciously as he said,

"Don't tell me you believe the nonsense they've spouted at you? What fool would willingly cosplay every day? The circumstances behind this town's actions have been magnificently tailored by that two bit con artist and egomaniac."

I don't think the mayor would like to be called an egomaniac by you.

"Isn't it too early for you to be just swallowing what everyone's been saying? This is still real life, and everything has some logical reason generally speaking. If you value your freedom, I suggest you don't take the side of the majority so much. You won't be able to escape if you do so.

It's another matter if you say you'd rather live here."

"Isn't that a bit high handed for someone who's apparently playing right by the system?"

"We're not planning on leaving unlike an outsider like you. You're just here for a vacation, right?

If you stick your nose too much, you'll end up seeing too much to ever be able to return.

If I have to give some credit to this town, I'd give it some credit towards their notion that strange things happen here. The worst has happened because of one peculiar habitant here, whose name my dear Tsunayoshi would never give us."

"You're saying like as if you're one of the victims of this."

"That's because we are, or more like I am. The ones who stay here are utter fools...

I would attest to that. Since this town is susceptible to curses. Rather than Chrome being cursed, I am that target."

"I thought that you claimed to be one of the saner ones."

"Don't put words into my mouth and stop interrupting me. Even though I am being so gracious and spelling it out for you. Even though rumors on us are something you would hear about sooner or later."

"Oh, what on earth have I done to receive this benevolence." Reborn drawled, expecting the usual good grace of Tsuna.

* * *

"It's because, you'd make an excellent pawn." he smiled deviously, and a chill ran through Reborn as he felt like he was right inside the other's territory. It wasn't like he couldn't physically get out of the situation, but the selective flow of information which seemed like the aim of the man in front of him could leave him at a disadvantage since he was losing the war on intelligence.

He didn't even know if what he would get would reflect the actual situation, and he would be personally given the first impression from a side that opposes the leading force in the town, something that would be hard to erase, effectively putting him at Mukuro's hand, albeit via force

How did he even get into this situation? Could it be that Yamamoto was orchestrated into getting him to visit this guy first?

"Relax. The world's greatest hitman, Renato Sinclair would never be at a disadvantage, right?"

Reborn narrowed his eyes.

"How about I let you know why people consider us both having those roles? It's a rather troubling incident, but I've been bestowed with the unfortunate curse to possess death's touch. Maybe a demonstration would help?"

Chrome brought a vase of fresh flowers and placed it on the armchair which wilted the instant the illusionist touched it.

"A magic trick like this is rather distasteful, and I'd honestly be troubled if you say to test it on a real person just to prove its legitimacy. That puffing demon bird is persistent enough as he is right now.

This touch is capable of killing any living being, and if you fancy, Chrome can lead you to the basement where the graves of all dead beings foolish enough to get touched lay. Mind you, the counts are somewhat distressing.

As for why Chrome's considered a cursed maid, it's because she's unfortunate enough to be right at my side for the longest with her family completely dead."

Chrome bristled a little at the last statement. Reborn kept a note on that while he pieced together his observations so far. It made sense that this 'young lord' kept high pedestals, mostly gold furniture with a distinct lack of wood and other natural material, even wearing shiny polyester clothing. It's because he would risk chances of interaction with something 'living'.

"If it's just metal you'd need for minimizing damage, you don't need all that gold. It's pretty garish."

"And go for steel? I wouldn't like living in a metal cage, so I might as well go for being royalty.

Plus, nothing pisses that demon more than using exorbitant goods."

Rather than as an extra, wasn't that your main agenda?!

"I think you would need to rearrange your view on this a bit. I think the reason why you seem to take this little skirmish between the prefect and I so light-heartedly, is because of the way Yamamoto Takeshi put it. That guy's neutral and tends to shift view points based on Tsuna's position.

I'll tell you something pretty good, you've been manipulated beautifully to remain neutral in this fight. It's because Takeshi wouldn't want an outsider meddling in. Lambo must have hinted a bit at his possessive side, and you must have seen it first hand. So I wonder, exactly why do you believe so genuinely in his words?" he asked innocently as the hitman scowled when the awareness kicked in.

"You see, the show of this glittering gold tells Hibari Kyoya, Namimori's  _beloved_  dictator, that he's not the only one in control. That's why it frustrates him to no end, mainly because he  _knows_ that I wasn't born into power.

And let me ask you, my newest pawn piece... where exactly  _did_  this gold come from?"

"...Now that we have this little mono e mono, what are your demands?"

"I don't have any particular issues right now. Gokudera Hayato would be coming for you in a bit, so I suggest you get ready."

It was such a sudden upheaval from the conversation's flow that Reborn couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated at being swung around to the exact beat of this heterochromatic young adult.

"Why's this person coming?"

"Have you forgotten? We're still in the midst of the tour. Hasn't Yamamoto told you that after visiting us, you'll have Gokudera, the loyal dog of Tsunayoshi take over your tour?

I have no intention in purposefully putting a dent in his plans, and I think I've played with you enough for one day."

The sheer amount of patronizing made Reborn feel like he should just headshot this guy and t-bag his corpse.


	5. Know-It-All Werewolf

When Reborn exited the 'broken down' building, he was immediately greeted with an enthusiastic welcome by a silverette in punk clothes. The bad boy image did not fit the cheer he brought in.

"Reborn-san! I'll be taking over as your final guide for today. How's Namimori been so far?"

"You're... Gokudera Hayato, right? In Italy, there are no more rumors about you other than that you got yourself done in."

"That's just because after a mission to Japan, I never reported back. I've found my purpose here!"

"Hmm. So where are we heading to?"

"We're heading back home. It's pretty late for any tours, so if you still want to look around Namimori, it might be better to try tomorrow. You can explore around alone once that stupid skylark meets you."

Skylark? Oh... Hibari. The mayor sure seems to have lotta nicknames.

"By the way, what is the title of the Mayor?"

"It's the demon of Namimori."

"Well wow. I'm surprised he doesn't hold grudges."

"Why should he? It's the highest form of praise."

Oh right, this is Namimori.

"Besides it's pretty apt, seeing what he makes his DC committee do in broad daylight blatantly abusing the system."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh right... Reborn-san had been caught up in that baseball idiot and that pervert pineapple's scheme...

Well if you hadn't been lead around the nose to avoid the routes the committee would be crossing, you'd probably see the DC committee on their usual patrol.

People call them the Hyakki-Yakou, which would translate to the hundred demon parade. They're pretty noisy with the fanfare."

What on earth is this I-am-the-orthodox-dictator walking example?! A military parade every day?! That kind of show of power is over the top!

"That's why I said that he's abusing the system. Just because the town is crazy about the whole ghost image... he goes around making them wear elaborate costumes made by Miura which change according to her whims and makes them blatantly survey the townspeople."

"What's the point if people like Yamamoto and Mukuro just avoid the fixed route?"

"That's pointless since we've got drones swerving around modeled at spirit balls or ghost lanterns."

"Who even made those?!"

"My friend and I did!" the teen acted like a proud parent just waiting for the opportunity to brag about their kid.

"The most difficult part for creating the drone was the limited battery as well as designing the nano-drone to support the weight for the ghostly outer design. For that-"

"Wait why on earth did you make them for helping out Hibari?"

"It wasn't to help that b*stard. He found out that we created it so he said he wanted in or he'd start ordering the committee members to pelt and bring down any flying drone. Even though that idiot refused our previous suggestion of putting a surveillance camera as a bionic eye to those useless Hibirds he keeps on getting!

And now suddenly he wants in!"

Yeesh, mad scientist much?

"So what did the drone have?"

"It was modeled to have a surveillance camera, audio recording, GPS positioning, recognition capabilities, harmful action detection, and a miniature air-strike- small but deadly!"

Wait, what?! You gave the friendly neighborhood dictator what?!

"You're kidding. You gave that guy a remote control flying controllable rifles?"

"As if."

Whew.

"I gave that shoot signal to both that birdie and pineapple. It'll shoot only if both of them agree to shoo the target. An hour after Hibari figured out we got our hands in these drones, Mukuro contacted us and told us to give it to them instead. So we pulled a fast on both of them and made it so that both of them need to agree on shooting a target to actually work.

That's as likely as them agreeing to swear on eternal love at their wedding."

"What's the bullet made of anyway?"

"It's made from that quack's needles and my new explosives. Plus Aneki got wind of my metaphor and forc- I mean, volunteered to lace the bullet with one of her newest love."

Oh, so it was coated with poison.

"She said, now every time it would shoot, it would represent the proof of love, longing that the world should see."

So chances that the DC head and Midas would use it is right down in the negatives, huh.

"So if those two don't use it, it's useless isn't it."

"Oh, it's being used alright."

The silverette didn't clarify further.

They had reached back to the homely, yet, broken-down house of Sawada Tsunayoshi as the other opened the door and the two entered inside.

* * *

"You also live here?" the hitman asked the former-bomber.

"Yeah, I kinda made this house a type of flat or rent-house" Tsuna said sheepishly.

"Then who else lives here?"

"Lambo lives here, but pretty much hangs around the other's place. You've probably met many of them today. Others stay over sometime."

"So it's for sleepovers?"

"Kinda."

"Then what about other cases?" Reborn asked, thinking about the plausible case with people who fit his situation.

"They stay over when they're here."

"What about when they're not here? Where do they go?"

"What do you mean?"

"Huh? Do they have their own houses?"

"No."

"Then you don't mean they're out on the streets right?"

"Hibari-san wouldn't let that happen."

"Then where do they stay?"

Tsuna looked at him in absolute confusion, and Reborn felt like tearing his hair apart, unable to understand why the brunette couldn't join the dots and make the connections.

"Hey, Tsuna. If the people who 'stay over', don't stay at other people's place or have their own area or stay in the streets, where on earth do they go?"

He just wanted him to say they went back to their countries or stayed out of town. He wanted to hear the proof of visitors. But Tsuna looked at him in confusion, like he did not get what the other was trying to imply.

Then he remembered Gokudera's claim that the lanterns were in use and he turned grim. But to ask the one clearly in control of the drones for confirmation was the height of insanity. Fortunately, the silverette wasn't present for the conversation and right now, he hadn't integrated with the society.

Maybe, he should try getting the cooperation of the non-dangerous member of the circle he's being acquainted with. Especially with the brunette's behavior influencing the rest...

"Tsuna, you've mentioned about the fire right? Since I'm in contact with Iemitsu, I can let him and Nana-san know about you living here-"

"Tsuna-sama! I've brought the sushi the baseball idiot's pushed on and tested it for poison. It's safe for eating"

Gokudera's booming voice overlapped Reborn's proposal, diverting Tsuna's attention immediately.

"Hayato, I've told you that you don't have to test for poison every single time. Yamamoto-kun would never do that!"

"But you told me to show hospitality to the guests."

"The guests will freak out!"

"They've seemed to appreciate it so far..."

"Those guys are just weird!"

After the bantering, Tsuna looked at Reborn and said apologetically,

"Sorry, Reborn the setting up of your room will take a while, so you'll be bunking with me. Don't worry, I don't snore and kick up a fuss, so I don't think I'll be disturbing your sleep."

"I'll take you up on your offer."

Frankly speaking, bunking up with any of the other people he'd met would be far less favorable rather than the one person who did not explicitly or implicitly threaten him. He'd be fine either way since he could 'take care' of his problems, but then it would jeopardize his primary motive- information gathering. The people here seem to have potential as allies of Vongola and Timeteo might need all the help he can get for tackling the problematic Varia. In fact, the people here can form an external group on training that can put a damper on Varia's influence.

Not to mention, even though Iemitsu is an absolute idiot... Sawada Nana deserves to know what happened to her son... and so does he. One crazy shenanigan shouldn't have such dire consequences.

Tsuna got an unpleasant surprise the next morning.

"Gah! Do you sleep with your eyes open?! One moment I turn around, and I'm faced with your full blown eyes staring into my soul. It's like you're Satan incarnate."

"How rude. Do you have room to complain about sleeping habits? You literally sprawl over your bed. Your future non-existent girlfriends are at further risk because no one likes a bed-hogger."

"Ugh. That hit a weak point."

"You're full of openings, Dame-Tsuna."

"That way of calling is no fair!"

"If you have time for whining, straighten up. It's no good for a landlord to be so slovenly."

"Eep. I'll get my act together so don't aim that lizard at me. It takes after you with those eyes."

"After all, Leon's my partner."

"After the alligator, I've had my fill of lizards... Why can't anyone have normal pets for once?"

"You've got a complaint?"

"No Sir."

"I thought so. So, what's the agenda for today?"

"Gokudera's been saying about trouble at the Namimori Middle School, so I think you should probably go along with him for now. You'll meet new people."

Tsuna smiled and suggested, then he turned a bit serious, capturing the attention of Reborn immediately as his auburn eyes flashed gold as he said,

"I'm not sure what kind of issues you are facing looking that troubled... but if I had to make a guess, you're curious about the Kamikakushis here."

"What do you mean 'Kamikakushi'?"

"In this town, some people disappear and sometimes reappear and blend in with the crowd ...It's considered natural here, but it seems like it's not so for you."

"Aren't these people visitors?"

"No, they're definitely inhabitants.

The guys here, it's easy to have a wrong impression on them, but they're good people. I mean they gave me a chance, haha. It's just that they're worrywarts and all of us are pretty protective of each other. They can be a bit extreme in the ways they show it, but in the end, we're family.

So you can trust them, Reborn."

It was a different version of we he's heard from what the guides in the town said. Reborn tipped his hat and said slowly,

"...That's awfully naive of you, Tsuna."

"What can I say, I'm quite biased, ehehe." Tsuna laughed softly aiming a warm smile at the hitman.

Gokudera barged into the room seemingly in a hurry.

"That idiot's finally done it now. I knew he was up to no good but to think that marshmallow was cooperating! Tsuna-sama, I'll be heading to the middle school.

Reborn-san, will you be joining?"

"...sure."

* * *

Reborn gave a final glance at the brunette and tipped his hat slightly as he walked out of the house. He looked at the silverette who was on his bike which looked like one modeled according to an old-fashioned delinquent and frowned in distaste. The other seemed to agree with his opinion as he explained,

"This is apparently one of that white marimo's jokes. He sent my other bike to the mechanic garage because of one of the training regimes that Yakuza got themselves into."

"There is Yakuza in this town? With a strict disciplinary committee, I wouldn't expect there be one..."

"Oh, these guys are former Yakuza. That lawn-head got them head over heels conned into his ideals and became hell-bent on making him their Kashira. That idiot misunderstood and is thinking they're all part of the boxing club now.

He still doesn't get what he's actually become!"

Reborn had further questions, but they reached the school, so he kept them for later.

Gokudera moved infuriated in a fixed path, so he assumed the other knew who the culprit to whatever issue was currently going on. The other explained the situation as they moved into the building.

"There's an exam going on today and our idiot's planned on boldly cheating to pass it without effort."

He said as he slammed open a door in the 3rd floor of the school. Amidst the quietly scribbling students in the class, a distinct pumpkin head futilely ducked away from the line of sight to work on the question paper.

Reborn immediately figured out the situation as he looked blandly at the obvious schemer. But what he didn't expect was after the temporary suspension of the test and the clamor of confusion of students in the room followed by the ceremonious dragging of the humanoid pumpkin from the room, the teen was dethroned- I mean de-pumpkined to show a timid redhead who looked like he rather be anywhere but here.

"Shoichi! How did you get yourself roped into this situation?!" Gokudera exclaimed exasperatedly.

Ah, so that's what the other meant by bold. The teen had roped this Shoichi into blatantly substituting him in this test wearing nothing but the other's uniform and pumpkin head.

"It's not I couldn't look past his scheme! It's just that he suggested the idea in front of Byakuran! Then that guy said it was exciting and forced me into doing it all the while giving me that smiley face. If I didn't change myself, he looked like he'd make his subordinates strip me to get me into those clothes and finally personally drove his private heli and dropped me into the school.

That guy even painted his white heli like that of the DC! Honestly, there is no limits he wouldn't go to satisfy his stupid whims!"

Reborn perked up at the name and asked,

"You mean the Millefiore boss is here in this town?"

"Yeah, he came here for a vacation and to wreak havoc on the side."

There are visitors here! So why are the locals so confused on the topic of visiting? Is it just a cultural thing? In that case, why did Tsuna reference his description with that of  _Kamikakushi_?

Gokudera continued the conversation.

"You do realize that if you write the paper, it'll be as if it's a research paper?"

"I told them that it'd be obvious that it's cheating. But Lambo just waived it off saying that if they suspect cheating for the onboard supervised re-examination, I just have to come back with the same disguise and do the exam in front of them..."

Uwaah, proving that you're not cheating by cheating right in front of the disciplinary board that is specially trained for this. That's a whole new level this kid is trying out for.

"I can't believe that cow-idiot. Just because these guys know that pumpkin=Lambo, he's been doing all sorts of things like putting a pumpkin at his seat, and that has never been found out until three months ago..."

No, I can't believe that it took so long to figure that out!

"That Hibari just hn-ed away all those reports until I finally pointed out that  _pumpkin is_ **not =** _to Lambo_  to his face and that guy looked open-eyed at me, and then finally dragged that idiot back to class..."

Hibari, how on earth have you been seeing your citizens?!

"And now this?!"

Reborn just facepalmed at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation.


	6. Freudian Logic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!  
> If some of you have read this fic before, this is the revamped version of it and that author was me(different account.)  
> Either way, this is the long due chapter to the fic.  
> I wasn't satisfied with the earlier iteration, so it took a while. But, here we go ~~  
> ｡*ﾟ+.*.｡ଘ( ᐛ ) ଓ+..｡*ﾟ+  
> Lemme know what you think of the story so far, k? ^^

The trio resumed their journey to apprehend the scoundrel who decided to cheat his way through the system (even if one of them abetted the so-called scoundrel and only one of them was actually intent on doing the apprehending). Reborn took to exploring the school since it was a smaller, yet denser ground to search and would make detailed explorations more fruitful.

_"The criminal would always return to their place of crime" - was the excuse he had given. Gokudera gave him a look like as if he was Lambo's long lost brother, which really ticked him off._

_"Reborn-san... You truly are the world's greatest hitman. You've hardly known Lambo, yet it's like you've crawled into his skin with how accurate you're being."_

_Shoichi's face turned green at that as he commented, "I don't think Reborn-san would like that, Gokudera, given the state of the pumpkin..."_

_"Oh right, it's rotten from the inside, just like its owner-" Reborn scowled in disgust at the truth of the (pumpkin) matter. The bomber continued undisturbed,_

_"At least it's properly rotten. That cow brat did something right for once. That's some amount of detail for getting someone to substitute for him. Guess he likes you, Shoichi."_

_In that case, Reborn was perfectly fine being hated by the brat. Then the redhead commented,_

_"Puh-lease. If he really liked me that much, he'd give me the pumpkin head that he'd been preserving carefully in formic acid. It looks real ghastly you know? The kid won't even listen to me when I told him that that was how we preserve fetuses, not vegetables._

_He should pickle it."_

_"Formic acid is the human version of pickling, you know?" the_ silverette _shot back._

_"Don't tell me you're the one who gave him that idea? You know if you want that pumpkin to last, you should mummify it or pickle it with salt, oil, vinegar and such."_

_"He's not going to eat it. If it smelled good, that brat would munch on it- and get a stomach ache. I'm not going to be his baby sitter."_

_"Don't tell me, it was for that petty reason that you didn't let him know you could preserve those pumpkins for much longer?"_

_"If he just wanted a pumpkin mask, he might as well make one from wood carvings, clay molding or even paper mache like any other craftsman. I might as well use this as an opportunity to see how a pumpkin turns out under different chemicals and conditions..."_

_"Seriously? I wonder why does Tsuna-san make you his babysitter if you go all Frankenstein on him?"_

_Reborn felt like Shoichi shouldn't be the voice of reason here if he was the one wearing the rotten pumpkin and writing tests. In fact after hearing what these two mad scientists were doing to this poor pumpkin, Reborn wanted to donate it to therapy or even to those PTSD sessions. It needs the counseling, and he can't believe that he would be giving that suggestion._

"I think you might want to detain Bovino, instead of debating on pumpkins" he said, becoming the spoilsport to spoil their discussion on the spoiled fruit

* * *

Reborn walked towards the infirmary, wondering how would the place which loved desecrate things model the one location that was meant to put things back to its order. He walked one step into the place and immediately retreated. That was a mad scientist's secret base!

Yamamoto saw the hitman near the door and holla'd at him, "Hey Reborn! Weird seeing you here. I thought you'd be as healthy as a horse, ahaha."

"Say, Yamamoto, I could understand the torn curtains-"

"I know right? I always told Gokudera to put away the gloves for his costume when he tries to pull the curtains- but that guy's so impatient that the claws tear it apart" - wait, so it wasn't decor?!

"Ok... What about the mannequin inside the infirmary?"

"The doc' wanted us to be very familiar with our inside self. He said, 'By knowing your own body's ins and outs to the very extreme, you can prevent injuries.'. I personally think he twisted Tsuna's words. I don't think that's what he meant when he advised him that Knowledge is power..."

"Why- Fine, leave that. What about the chaise lounge? Shouldn't that be in the counselor room?"

"Huh? Where would the doctor be if not in the infirmary room? Granted, he's doing a temp doctor, cos Shamal goes on frequent dates that only end in crashes and burns-"

"The chair is the doctor? Oh, I get it- it's a role?" Reborn inferred with confusion lilting his tone. Why a chair? Were the patients supposed to sit on the doctor and narrate their worries? It seems almost like a fetish - like that story he heard of a stalker mailing himself as an armchair to his target's house...

"It just turned out to be a chair you know? I'm pretty sure Mukuro would have told you this, but the roles we use aren't really voluntary, but something that was a consequence of circumstances." the jock seemed oddly serious about the statement, that the hitman filed that statement away. He asked the clown,

"Then why's he a chair?"

"Well, uh, he made really wild movements when treating his patients so I advised him to wear something like shock absorbers. But boxing gloves only fit a person's fists and can end up bolstering a punch right? So we made makeshift cushions around his fists, palms, feet, and legs- the main parts that crashed stuff...

Then we got into another issue. The cushions made him imbalanced by adding weights to those parts, by not covering the shoulders and chest. Gokudera told him that if he had to do this, he might as well make a cushion armor- like those old medieval armor knights.

He became the cushion edition of a straw doll... At that point, Hibari's comment drove the whole thing right off a cliff- "Why don't you become a chaise lounge? It'll even help with your training." -he said.

You know, you've literally to crawl around to move that way! We tried talking him out of it, but the initial difficulty with maneuvering inside a literal chair got his fighting spirit up and he stood up to the challenge... and the rest is history."

If Yamamoto looked tired after narrating that tale, Reborn was positively twitching by the end of it.

The infirmary door slammed open at that moment, and a booming voice came out of it as a chair rammed against the door frame as it bellowed over-enthusiastically,

"I see that you two look extremely tired! Come inside. I can lend an ear or two of your worries and we'll clear up your stormy skies and bring back some sunshine!"

'I would have shot my therapist if he thought of using this way to get me to lie on that damn chair' Reborn thought, partially mortified at the hot mess in front of him.

"It seems like Sasagawa-san's trying to get more integrated into his role so that he could show how serious he was with the whole mannequin advice." Yamamoto whispered into his ears.

"I'm Sasagawa Ryohei! I'm the doctor here, and I can help out with physiological as well as psychological issues! But before we can get started, I need to get information about you, to make sure you get the help you need Reborn!" The muffled sounds from the chair shouted boisterously and a small compartment open as 2 pills was spat out from it like a runaway cuckoo bird.

"Hand me the blue pill!" there were two pills- a red pill with 'blue' written as its label and a blue pill with 'red' as its label. The chair looked at him expectantly, as it seemed almost proud to accurately land those pills into the hitman's palms. It was certainly impressive, but...

''I see that sometimes the doctors are the ones that need to go to the looney ward. Or is it a nut cosplaying as a doctor?' Reborn looked at the pills and he brought out Leon and transformed him into a paint gun and popped a blue palette onto the red pill, making it blue. He threw the now blue on blue pill into the open slot.

"Oh! That's extreme! That's right. We're to make our own answers that can be the best approach to a problem! Yamamoto passed me the blue colored pill if you were curious."

"Ahaha, I didn't see that it read 'red' at that time." Yamamoto looked a bit sheepish.

"Come on in! I can make some tea so that you can get that peace I offered. Hibari showed me a bunch of tea that you can use to help with that!"

'I bet he gave you those so that you can take a chill pill...'

Yamamoto piped in, looking like he remembered what he was there for, "Sasagawa-senpai, Shoichi told me that he could add more additions into the chair by giving it those custom made professor glasses, a white lab coat, and a beard so that it makes people identify that you're a doctor-"

"No, don't worry. There's no way he can look more iconic than he does with that look." Reborn looked at the peppy chaise lounge at him with exasperation.

"Aww, Haru-chan's gonna be disappointed then."

Reborn pointedly ignored that remark and decided to follow the chair's back as it led them into the room.

* * *

When they went inside the infirmary, Sasagawa introduced him to the mannequin- biology room's anatomical human-like doll. It was a half human skin wearing and half muscled with all its organs showing monstrosity of a statue that was a great tool of education- and the stuff that played a starring role in a school's seven mysteries.

"This is Elizabeth. Shamal said that he wanted at least one woman in the infirmary at all times, so we got her!"

"She's the Yamamoto Nadeshiko of our school. There's no one purer than her and she hides nothing from anyone. Isn't she amazing? Especially in today's time where no one can trust each other.

In fact, she's so pure that even Shamal doesn't act fresh with her!" Yamamoto quipped amusedly. There was some truth in his words, no one could so magnificently expose all of their guts, muscles and all...

'Where do I start with this?!

If Shamal flirted with that, I'd personally put him out of his misery... I see that he still has some standards.'

"But he did blush when Kyoko-chan did a bit of makeup on Elizabeth-chan. She dolled her up amazingly, ahaha."

Shamal?! Don't you go there! That's not a door you should open!

"I told Shamal that he should accept all aspects of himself when he came for counseling after that." Ryohei spoke seriously. But Reborn would much appreciate it if they didn't encourage him to fall off the deep end. Everything had its own limits... Everything should be attempted in moderation.

"In fact, I think there are some people in school who actually ship them two as their OTP..." to which Reborn looked at Yamamoto with alarm and the other laughed it off.

'Please, let there not be a cult for necrophilia in this school...'

There was at least one silver lining here. Looks like the casanova's met his match.

"This place almost looks like a biology lab. Isn't it too messy here? Wouldn't the students get hurt?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. They take traversing through the maze of chemical bottles, experiments, stored samples, fetuses and lab equipment as a trial of courage. It's like a coming of age ceremony. They've to reach Sasagawa-senpai before he moves towards them, topping shelves their way by doing that-"

"Doesn't that defeat the purpose of taking the role then?!"

"Don't worry Reborn! I've trained extremely to overcome that weakness! I can now glide through the gaps with ease!"

"Shoichi thought of countermeasures. What do you think is better, Reborn?

Making a crane game arcade in front of the infirmary to use a claw to lift the sofa to the entrance so that senpai can look at the patients?"

"Why is the doctor the prize to get some treatment around here?! Also, those crane games need you to pay up a huge amount of cash just to get the prize into the open slot.

You'd have a wrecked room by then, and the student would have given up on the doctor by then."

"I thought it was fine since I've heard people say that they want 'senpai to notice them~'

Gokudera said that it's a good way to get more demand for a doctor. He also said that the science and tech team could get more funds this way-

Wait, oops. I'm not supposed to have said that. Forget about that, ahaha...

Ahem, anyway. There was another proposal- make a chemical that acts like diet soda for the sofa and gets it to thin up to let senpai fit through narrow gaps-"

"I don't think you'd get anywhere fat-shaming a couch."

"Oh... Then we've got to make the next plan."

How about you, I don't know, scrap the couch role?!


	7. Break the deadlock

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there.   
> Exposition ahead, well a bit. I hope this chapter ain't too dreary... I wanted to keep this fic as light-hearted as I could :) Let's see how it goes.
> 
> Lemme know what you think of the fic ^^ Any comments are welcome (anybody there? yoohoo~)
> 
> Hope you enjoy the story, let's go on now!

Reborn had left the two alone to snoop around the grounds. Their charades would tire him, so he retired ASAP from their company. He moved towards the roof to get an aerial view of the town. The middle school was tall enough to be spotted from Tsuna's house, so he thought it'd be a great place for recon.

When he opened the door to the rooftop, a beam of light concentrated on his eyes, making him squint a bit. It really didn't help that the citizens kept things dark for a motif.

It seemed that he had company. There was a girl whose figure got illuminated in the sunlight. She looked straight at him with her brown hair swishing with the wind as she spoke,

"I think that you've met all the people you mainly should and your tour should be finished by now. In that case, if you're planning on staying for now, you should play along with the townspeople, starting now.

So Reborn-kun, don't blink or look away from me."

"What-"

"I play the role of the Weeping Angel. I'm willing to give you the deeper look into this town- just as you'd like.

But, for that- the ones that approach me should follow those rules. It's a fair deal I think. Especially, since the others won't let you off with even a single peek- if you don't decide to become a part of the town's folks."

When the hitman's face scrunched up and his shoulders tensed at the unfair position he was being tucked away in, she told him-

"Do you think I'm threatening you, Reborn-kun? I think I'm being way more straight forward than the people you've met. It's not like I don't know why they hide those things.

It's because if they tell you everything, you might ruin the delicate balance that supports this town. After all, you don't really know us or understand us or empathize with us. You might not even cooperate properly.

The state of the way things are... they're closely linked with what makes themselves."

He didn't know what she was playing at, but he decided to hear her out at least.

"But first things first, I'm Sasagawa Kyoko. I'm Sasagawa Ryohei's little sister. It's nice to meet you, Reborn-kun." she smiled sunnily at him.

"You mean that Chaise Lounge?"

"...You shouldn't believe Yamamoto-kun's words at face value, Reborn-kun. I'm sure that Lambo-kun and Mukuro-san would have warned you."

That guy lied again? Rather than being the killer clown, that guy should be Pinnochio.

"It's not like he's the biggest liar. But he does lie often with strangers.

Anyway, my brother... he... plays the... ragdoll role." she seemed physically pained to say that.

Reborn figured it was a way to show him that he could trust her. He kept her in the corner of his eyes as he looked around to scope the place, wondering why was she bothered by his Halloween like role? When he noticed blood on the railing, she whispered,

"You see, my brother used to get into a lot of fights to protect me. I don't like it, but people used to try to get my attention- like it was some kind of trophy or achievement.

Some of their methods to do that... was not very nice.

My brother used to be infuriated when he saw the ones I didn't manage to hide. I don't like how he dealt with the ones who went a bit too far. He used to get into hospitals for that- so much so that he learned some of the ropes himself.

But violence begets violence... and eventually he couldn't even fight as a sport.

...Not that he knows this himself. They told him that the cushions were to stop him from crashing stuff, but I think the cushions are to support his actions- to be the substitute for what his arms and legs could no longer do. I doubt that my brother would notice anything... at least he'd keep going until he breaks down..."

Reborn looked at her, shocked at realizing what it meant for him to wear the supports as integrally as becoming a chaise lounge itself. What was inside the chair? How did he look like underneath all that?

"I won't be telling the other's story- it's not mine to tell. But this one I can tell since it's our matter. But I can answer the questions if you've got some- enough to let you get a foothold in this place so that you can make a decision that's not influenced by the rest."

"...Say, did someone get hurt near the rails?"

"Yes, that someone almost died here."

"What happened?"

"...There was a sports meet that week. We had something like a bitter rivalry with the opposing baseball team that we were supposed to play against.

They... went too far. That made that person almost lose his will to live. But things didn't go his way, so he made it go his way in the end. But because of that, the meet was canceled-"

"Kyoko. That's enough." Gokudera entered the place just then, looking stern. He told the hitman, keeping his eyes on her own with a look of reprimand,

"Reborn-san, we found the cow brat. So, it's fine to leave the place. School's over, anyway."

* * *

When the hitman saw the brunette leave the place, he felt a sort of dread wash over him. The way she put things it was almost like she was talking about dead people. But he had to keep things under control. He couldn't run away from the truth, especially when he was close to it for once these days. He couldn't let this opportunity fly past him.

"Gokudera. What's next after the tour?"

"But it's not finished yet. You've yet to meet Hibari. Or did you want to take a break from the tour?"

"Yes. I wanted to do some individual sightseeing."

"That's fine with me, Reborn-san. But the locals won't let you approach them if we weren't around. They're stranger-shy."

With all the stupid stuff they indulge in, why is it strangers that scare them the most. They live in a horror house themselves.

"With what I've seen so far, I think the graveyard would be the town's holy ground."

"Uh, we don't have one. But the closest ones we could have is the people's houses. We've got a custom of burying the dead right in the house's grounds."

'Why would you create the equivalent of the cliche Indian burial ground?!'

"We keep the dead close by." there was a sinister tone that tinged the bomber's voice. But it could be the subject matter that made him think that way.

"Gokudera. Do you have something planned right now that we've paused that trip?"

"If you want to visit a place, you could let me know and I can lead you there."

"Do you have a shrine?" he asked because he wanted to know if the townspeople were religious, or was there something else to what he had noticed so far. The closest place related to his doubts was the shrine- the place where people give offerings for the living's well being and the peace of the departed.

Gokudera stiffened up at the question. He turned eyes filled with suspicion towards the hitman- it was like a cat hissing at him. This was the reason why he had asked this question to the silverette- it was because he was an open book.

"So you do have one. Will you lead me there or should I find someone else to do that?" he implied that he could always ask Tsuna- the only other person amongst those he met that he could put some trust in.

"...No, I can do that." the werewolf glared at him. It seemed that he finally caught something that was forbidden hidden rule- a weakness. It finally gave the hitman room to stand.

The Namimori shrine was a pristine building. It was beautifully maintained and didn't fit with the town's atmosphere and was removed from the town's geography. Yet it seemed like even if it didn't share its boundaries, it was well appreciated.

"The DC committee maintain it. That's why the place is fine looking."

"I thought you guys like buildings like kokuyo's amusement park."

"I don't. I moved in here, so I was as surprised as you are when I got here. Then I got a used to it."

"What about the DC guys? Why're they maintaining this place to this extent? "

"You don't need to verify it. You've guessed right. It's a type of harassment to the shrine- in particular, it's at the guy who's taken the role of the priest of the shrine.

I guess they don't like that he took that role when he was a shopkeeper before. They don't tell me the whole story."

"Huh? They don't trust you?"

"I know that the information is vital for keeping things the way they are. But I don't like it. They're hiding things from Tsuna- they say that it's for his own good.

I don't think they get to decide that on their own." Gokudera shared that and Reborn knew exactly why he did that. He intended on making an accomplice out of him.

"So you want me to dig information?"

"You're neutral right now right? Might as well get something done, while they're not explicitly targetting you. You're the freest person here right now, so what do you say?"

He could ask about information regarding his role right now, but right now, he needed to know more about his surroundings.

He needed to know, especially since the last hope of Vongola was bounded to the town, with his supposed guardians fettering his chains.

He wondered if Nono meant it when he told him he wanted Sawada Tsunayoshi dead or alive.

His surroundings started to change right in front of him as he felt like floating. The air had a distinct smell of copper and he looked at the buildings that looked desolate- it was truly a place for the dead.

Leon on his shoulders was munching on something. He turned his eyes to the shrine as it looked like the doors were getting covered by vines. One half was wilted and the other looked as fresh as dew.

His eyes picked up well-maintained graves and his nose was flooded with the smell of incense. It was almost dizzying- like as if his senses were picking up what the people here experienced on a daily basis.

It was as if they were drunk and reduced to incoherency from the articles they've collected and barricaded themselves so thoroughly.

Maybe it wasn't that Namimori was a place for the dead, but more like Namimori was a cage for the dead.

Reborn wasn't one to back down, nor was he one to slink around and play down the trust offered to him. So he reached for the door as Leon spit silk that wrapped around his body.

When the door opened, he saw Gokudera who gawked at him. It seemed that his partner draped him in a pure white robe, going so far as giving him a leaf crown. He understood the chameleon's intention right way, and spoke without hesitance,

"I've taken up the role of the Messiah" it was honestly ironic, given his bloody past and his profession.

But the small smile on Gokudera's face looked more real than anything he had been giving the other so far. It seemed that the bomber had been hiding things under a mask, even if he looked like he was as clear as glass.

It seemed that his decision was not unrewarded. Reborn himself had a tiny smile hidden under his black fedora.


End file.
